Skip to content
Spark & Whetstonethe grown-up commons

← The Front Page Table

The Front Page Table

Three short lessons for an evening with an old newspaper: guess the year from clues, guess what happened next, and spot what the paper could not have known.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/the-front-page-table · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Where to find old pages

The Library of Congress runs Chronicling America, a free website of American newspaper pages from the 1700s to the 1960s. You can search by date and place and print a whole front page.

Many local libraries also keep old papers on microfilm. Pick a page with big headlines, adverts and pictures; they give the most clues.

Question. What is Chronicling America?

  1. A free Library of Congress website of historic newspaper pages.
  2. A history textbook.
  3. A paid news app.

Say it back. In your own words: where can you find an old front page?

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Lesson 2. Guess the year

Cover the date and hand the page to a pair: one older person, one younger. They hunt for clues: prices in the adverts, the clothes in the pictures, the technology mentioned, the names in the news.

Each pair writes a guess and the clue that convinced them. The older person often knows the prices; the younger one often spots the technology.

Question. Which clue on an old page is most useful for guessing the year?

  1. The name of the newspaper.
  2. An advert for a "new" radio set at a stated price.
  3. The weather forecast.

Say it back. Say it back: what kinds of clues date a newspaper?

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Lesson 3. What the paper could not know

Every front page was written without knowing what came next. A headline might predict a quick end to a war that lasted years, or miss the small story that turned out to matter most.

Ask the table: what happened next? Which story on this page turned out to be the important one? It is a kind way to learn that the news is a first draft.

Question. Why might an old front page get the future wrong?

  1. Old reporters were careless.
  2. It was written before anyone knew what would happen next.
  3. Newspapers never print predictions.

Say it back. In your own words: why is the news a first draft?

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

At the table: Pairs and a page

Players: four to eight people of mixed ages. You'll need: one or two printed old front pages with the date covered, pencils and paper.

  1. Make pairs of one older and one younger person.
  2. Each pair studies a page and writes a year and their best clue.
  3. Reveal the date. Then each pair guesses what happened next in one story.
  4. Look it up together and talk about what the paper could not have known.

Answers

  1. A free Library of Congress website of historic newspaper pages. — It is the Library of Congress's free collection of digitised newspaper pages.
  2. An advert for a "new" radio set at a stated price. — A "new" radio and its price both point to a particular time.
  3. It was written before anyone knew what would happen next. — It was written before the outcome, so it could only report what was known then.